Motor fuel



Patented Feb. 12, 1935 UNITED STATES MOTOR FUEL Ernest F. Pevere, Beacon, N. Y.,,assignor to The Texas Company, New York, N. Y., a corporation of Delaware No-Drawing. Application February 18, 1932, Serial No. 593,872

2 Claims. (Cl. 44-9) This invention relates to motor fuels and has to do with the introduction into themotor fuel of compounds, such as anti-knock reagents to raise the anti-knock value and to improve the 5 general character of the fuel.

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According to the invention a motorfuel of insufficient anti-knock value is treated by adding thereto a predetermined quantity of an antiknock compound of the general class which may be termed organic ditellurides. The compounds have the general formula of R--M--MR' in which the constituents R and R may be alkyl or aryl radicals and the constituent M, the metal tellurium. A sufficient quantity of the above reagent is added to the fuel to substantially increase the anti-knock value or to produce the desired quality with or without the addition of auxiliary materials such as dyes, antioxidants or other well known anti-knock reagents.

Motor fuels suitable for treatment according to the invention consist of any fuel which has a tendency to knock when used in internal combustion engines. Straight run gasolines, partially cracked'gasolines, or blends of straight run and cracked products may be treated to advantage, In some cases a cracked gasoline which shows a fair anti-knock property may be treated to increase the anti-knock value, or synthetic fuel such as benzol, alcohol or blends thereof with gasoline, or products of hydrogenation may also be treated. The invention, furthermore, is not limited to motor fuels within the boiling range of commercial gasoline but may be used, if desired, for the treatment of heavier fuels such as naphtha or kerosene or blends of kerosene and naphtha which are sometimes used as tractor fuels or for other purposes where a heavier product is useful for internal combustion engines.

The organic ditellurides have been known heretofore and may be prepared according to the methods described in the literature by one skilled in the art.' The compounds vary in physical properties according to the nature of the hydrocarbon constituents. The compounds are, as a rule, highly colored and the substitution of an aromatic nucleus into the molecule usually tends to increase the melting or boiling points of the compounds above those of the corresponding alkyl derivatives.

means of increasing the anti-knock property of the fuel.

The materials contemplated for use, according to the invention, may consist of either the aromatic 'or aliphatic ditellurides, that is, the R and R constituents in the molecules mentioned heretofore may be either alkyl or aryl radicals. Moreover, the two radicals R and R in the same compound may be asymmetrical or of different char- The compounds in general are quite soluble in gasoline and provide an efficient.

acter, that is, mixed derivatives such as one radical aromatic and the other aliphatic in character. Also, either the alkyl-er aryl radical may comprise a substituted group, for example, the hydrogen of the benzene ring of the aryl radical or the hydrogen of the alkyl radical may be substituted either by aryl or alkyl radicals. The above described classes may comprise, by way of illustration, such compounds as dimethyl, diethyl, dipropyl, dibutyl, phenylmethyl, phenylethyl, diphenyl, ditolyl, tolylphenyl, dixylyl, benzylmethyl ditellurides.

The quantity of the anti-knock compound necessary to be used to obtain satisfactory results will, of course, vary withthe nature of the gasoline to which it is added and will depend largely on the anti-knock value desired for the resultant fuel. In general it may be said that quantities ranging from 0.1% to 1.0% by weight of the fuel treated will usually give satisfactory results and preferably a quantity in the region of 0.2%-0.5%.

The ditelluride compounds are particularly advantageous in that they are decidedly more effective than the stable dimetallo compounds of other metals, such as the corresponding selenium compounds.

As an example of the'e'ffect of a particular compound, 0.1% of diphenyl ditelluride was added to a straight run gasoline of about 36 octane number and the octane number wasthereby increased to about 50. To another sampleof the gasoline of 36 octane number was added 0.3% of diphenyl ditelluride and the octane number was increased to about 60. The examples illustrate the effect of a specific compound on a certain sample of gasoline and it will be observed that other ditelluride compounds are contemplated within the scope of the invention and may give greater or less effect depending on the nature of the s"bstance and the character of the gasoline under treatment; therefore, I do not limit myself to the particular examples. Y

Obviously many modifications and variations of the invention, as hereinbefore set forth, may be made without departing from the spirit'and scope thereoiand therefore only such limitations should be imposed as are indicated in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. The method of improving the anti-knock property of liquid motor fuels for spark-fired internal combustion engines which comprises adding to the fuel diphenyl ditelluride.

2. A composition of matter comprising a liquid motor fuel for spark-fired internal combustion engines to which has been added. diphenyl ditelluride.

ERNEST F. PEVERE': 

